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Workers won't go near new mancage for aerial work

Cannonmn

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Jun 25, 2016
I was nervous every time I saw one of the workers surfing on an ordinary pallet while being lifted to 20'feet above the concrete floor to change lights or whatever. He might or might not be holding onto some part of the forklift. I bought a nice mancage with safety harness etc., naively thinking they'd like it. Wrong, they refuse to get in it and want to wait until I'm off on an errand, when they'll go pallet surfing again. They won't give a reason for refusing to use it. What do I do? The only thing I can do is strap in and ride the cage myself while one of then drives the forklift. I'm not their hire/fire boss unfortunately or both might be gone, but help of any kind is very hard to find here, so for various reasons replacing them isn't an option. So I'm just asking if anyone else has had workers flatly refuse to use safety equipment?

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A big enough company has written safety policies that employees must read and sign, one copy goes into the company file, one goes to the employee.

After that it's verbal warning 1, written warning 2, suspension or firing 3
 
Why is the stupid thing eighty feet tall ? I can see why no one wants to use it, I wouldn't either. It's a piece of shit.
 
HTF COULD they use it? If those are 4 foot forks they will need 4 foot arms to reach past the end of the forks. YOU bought that POS and you blame them?
It's an OSHA inspectors dream! What is that Nylon doing hanging from the swivel that the yo yo is on? Serious violation. Is that swivel rated for 5000 lbs and why is it there anyway? "nother one. I can see a flourescent fixture and there is no way a man could reach it from that skyscraper.
You have more problems than a POS man basket. Why won't your people talk to you? Do you listen? Why weren't they involved in this purchase? Do they have fall protection training?
 
HTF COULD they use it? If those are 4 foot forks they will need 4 foot arms to reach past the end of the forks. YOU bought that POS and you blame them?
It's an OSHA inspectors dream! What is that Nylon doing hanging from the swivel that the yo yo is on? Serious violation. Is that swivel rated for 5000 lbs and why is it there anyway? "nother one. I can see a flourescent fixture and there is no way a man could reach it from that skyscraper.
You have more problems than a POS man basket. Why won't your people talk to you? Do you listen? Why weren't they involved in this purchase? Do they have fall protection training?

I didn't see the photo when I first responded.

Absolutely, tall, narrow, long fork stick out

Is it OSHA approved ?
I read some rules, I thought there had to be a door.
-If the worker rides that and takes a dizzy spell, there's nothing keeping from slipping under the chain and out.

Forklift Man Baskets Meet All OSHA Requirements
 
HTF COULD they use it? If those are 4 foot forks they will need 4 foot arms to reach past the end of the forks. YOU bought that POS and you blame them?
It's an OSHA inspectors dream! What is that Nylon doing hanging from the swivel that the yo yo is on? Serious violation. Is that swivel rated for 5000 lbs and why is it there anyway? "nother one. I can see a flourescent fixture and there is no way a man could reach it from that skyscraper.
You have more problems than a POS man basket. Why won't your people talk to you? Do you listen? Why weren't they involved in this purchase? Do they have fall protection training?

It's a stock picker basket. Very handy if you need to get out of the basket when it's raised.The fork extensions are intentional. You can put a pallet on it, ride it up to a high shelf, and move around to put product on the pallet. The nylon strap is attached to an inertia reel; I can't speak to the swivel, but if it came with the reel it should be okay. If you ever go to Home Depot and they have to get a freezer or something similar off a top shelf, they use something similar, but self contained rather than attached to a fork lift.

The back guard is to keep the rider out of the mast. 7' is the requirement in CA. I think it varies in other states.

Without knowing exactly what the OP uses the platform for, it's hard to say if it's the ideal purchase for the situation, but this certainly isn't a POS. I've been in situations where this would have been way easier/safer than using a man lift or scissor lift.
 
I didn't see the photo when I first responded.

Absolutely, tall, narrow, long fork stick out

Is it OSHA approved ?
I read some rules, I thought there had to be a door.
-If the worker rides that and takes a dizzy spell, there's nothing keeping from slipping under the chain and out.

Forklift Man Baskets Meet All OSHA Requirements

Well, there's the required 4" toekick so no sliding out, the man in the basket
is supposed to be wearing a proper, approved harness, and properly donned.

The overhead part of the cage is to prevent the driver of the forklift (it's very hard to see
up that high when driving, I've done this) from ramming the rider into lights, beams, pipes,
and open feeders.
 
Thanks for replies, I didn't know much about the baskets before I bought it used from a major chain of stores gone bust, but it was OSHA approved as a stock-picker which is often what we use it for. I think a lot of the issue is with one very hard-headed, extremely stubborn helper. He controls the other one even tho same level-a mental thing, they've been inseparable friends for 60 years. Stubborn one has one eye and other one usually doesn't understand verbal instructions from anyone. The one-eyed one erupts in a screaming fit about weekly over something like someone is using the extension cord that isn't on the hook where he's looking for it.
 
Thanks for replies, I didn't know much about the baskets before I bought it used from a major chain of stores gone bust, but it was OSHA approved as a stock-picker which is often what we use it for. I think a lot of the issue is with one very hard-headed, extremely stubborn helper. He controls the other one even tho same level-a mental thing, they've been inseparable friends for 60 years. Stubborn one has one eye and other one usually doesn't understand verbal instructions from anyone. The one-eyed one erupts in a screaming fit about weekly over something like someone is using the extension cord that isn't on the hook where he's looking for it.

There are plenty of people currently out of work that I'm sure would be a much better fit.
 
Go to the hire/fire manager with a memo stating that anyone caught pallet surfing will be fired. Have him sign it. Laminate it to the forklift

How will you feel when an employees melon is squashed all over the floor?

Now excuse me I have to go climb my 14 foot step ladder and change some lightbulbs
 
HTF COULD they use it? If those are 4 foot forks they will need 4 foot arms to reach past the end of the forks. YOU bought that POS and you blame them?
It's an OSHA inspectors dream! What is that Nylon doing hanging from the swivel that the yo yo is on? Serious violation. Is that swivel rated for 5000 lbs and why is it there anyway? "nother one. I can see a flourescent fixture and there is no way a man could reach it from that skyscraper.
You have more problems than a POS man basket. Why won't your people talk to you? Do you listen? Why weren't they involved in this purchase? Do they have fall protection training?

The yellow nylon stuff is all part of the "approved" safety rig that came with it, consisting of an inertia-reel and body harness. Thing goes around both legs and torso to distribute load on body when inertia reel grabs during a fall. It takes a few min. for me to put on but takes the worry out of working aloft, I'm 70 and pretty sure a fall 20 feet onto concrete would be final, so glad to have the nylon. The way i think it all is supposed to be used is the rider stays in the tall box behind the chain until the cage is in position where the high work will be done, then he can venture out in his nylon harness and work, standing on attached pallet platform. If no pallet platform is on for that job, the steel projections can be slid into the pallet being worked so the worker can work on whatever's on the pallet without venturing far from the screened steel box.

Anyway one thing I'll be doing, lacking any other workable solution now, is to keep the forklift key myself, and I'll be the only one to ride the forklift or stacker up high. If there were a "replace workers" solution I'd do it but big boss lady won't consider it, so my options are limited.
 
Anyway one thing I'll be doing, lacking any other workable solution now, is to keep the forklift key myself, and I'll be the only one to ride the forklift or stacker up high. If there were a "replace workers" solution I'd do it but big boss lady won't consider it, so my options are limited.

One OSHA fine will surely change the boss's mind....
 
Is the one eyed guy the riding the pallet or the one driving the forklift? I'm trying to think which one would be worse, but both are pretty insane.

Only an idiot would ride a pallet over a manbasket of any kind (although I can see why this one is not ideal). Especially when your 60 years old.

I didn't like pallet surfing to hang my shop lights. Used some scaffolding for the rest of the lights and not only was it safter, it was faster. And I'm 20, very flexible and pretty coordinated, not way in hell would I do this at 60 or 70.

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All my manbasket training says you are not allowed to be out of the basket while still being attached to it. There are so many things wrong with this whole situation I can't even begin to think where the osha guy would start writing. Maybe a consultation with them would sort out the B.S. rather quickly

The way i think it all is supposed to be used is the rider stays in the tall box behind the chain until the cage is in position where the high work will be done, then he can venture out in his nylon harness and work, standing on attached pallet platform. If no pallet platform is on for that job, the steel projections can be slid into the pallet being worked so the worker can work on whatever's on the pallet without venturing far from the screened steel box.
 
Get a piece of "sidewalk chalk" the kind that kids use, big and fat.

Tell the (2) jokers that you will have this handy for the other one to
trace a line around the body at the scene.
 








 
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